Transgender as Target?Transcendiendo la discriminación

Transgender as Target?

“You will be held accountable,” warned activist Elizabeth Marie Rivera.

Discrimination.

That is how transgender activist Elizabeth Marie Rivera referred to a recent decision rendered by the Senate in Puerto Rico.

It “places a target on the transgender community,” argued Rivera.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and transgender rights advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest the recent elimination of legal protections for employees of the Puerto Rican Senate.

On March 31, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz rescinded a previous administrative order stating that transgender Senate employees could use bathrooms and wear clothing consistent with their chosen gender identity.

Activists rallied earlier this month in support of transgender individuals in Puerto Rico, claiming Rivera Schatz’s administrative action violated the commonwealth’s 2013 law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Rivera Schatz, according to newspaper reports, has argued that the order was “unnecessary,” and that his action represented the “mandate” of the electorate. He has been a vocal opponent of LGBT rights who blocked equal-marriage legislation and sought to remove LGBT victims from the country’s listed hate crimes laws.

“I was enraged,” she stated at the April 10 rally. “What Rivera Schatz did not only blatantly violate the island’s anti-discrimination law, it goes against the very core values of this nation — to respect, to be inclusive, and defend its most vulnerable.”

“It’s not only immoral and inhumane, it’s dangerous,” added Mark-Viverito, who said the action could engender the safety and health of transgender individuals.

“We are as a community to say clear and loud that transgender rights are human rights,” stated Guillermo Chacón, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS and Founder of the Hispanic Health Network.

José Dávila, Vice President for Policy and Government Relations at the Hispanic Federation, said the leaders of Puerto Rico should be more focused on solving the island’s economic crisis.

“Transgender rights are human rights,” stated Guillermo Chacón.

“It amazes me that, at a time when unemployment is at record levels, schools are being shuttered, workers are being laid off, pensions are being lost, that the Senate President is rolling back basic protections for hardworking transgender government employees,” said Dávila.

Also present were representatives from Amida Care, a non-profit health organization that provides coverage and coordinated care to those with chronic conditions, including HIV and AIDS.

Advocates called on the Senate to reverse its administrative order and for Governor Pedro Rosello to intervene. Chacon said that several organizations collaborated on letters to Rivera Schatz and Rosello, urging them to revoke the order.

Mark-Viverito, who said she planned to send her own letters to Puerto Rico officials, expressed concern that there could be more protections taken away from transgender people on the island.

“This is only the opening,” she said. “There are other actions that this right-wing administration is looking to take against transgender people. They’re somehow feeling emboldened.”

But Rivera said advocates would remain vigilant.

“If something happens to any one transgender individual out in Puerto Rico as a result of your biased decision,” said Rivera directly to the Senate President, “[you] will be held accountable by us.”